Billion Dollar Hearts (Inconguity Series Book 3)

by Thandiwe Mpofu

  “I really don’t have the time or patience for your bullshit right now, pops.” I grit out, standing because I’m too wound up for all of this. I’m stretched tight and I need her. I need to find her now.

  “Are you surprised by any of it?” He asks, his sharp gaze studying me.

  “Of course, I’m not surprised by your vindictive nature. What pisses me off is that you set me off on a path that I never understand yet I dived head first in and now look at all this shit. . .” My voice is deep and hard.

  I can’t believe I have blindly followed this man, devoted my life to do his every bidding and now as I have found out today, this has been part of some kind of elaborate plan that I had no idea about.

  “My twin brother did not deserve what that sonofabitch did to him. The ugly vicious agony that he put him through the last few seconds of his life!” He growls, his anger now short as cuts me a glare. “I can never turn away from that!”

  “Your damn brother was part of them! He was part of the syndicate or has that escaped your thick skull somewhere between now and the ‘accident’ that you planted!”

  And that’s where my anger lies. That he has been lying all this time. He has been lying to me about everything!

  “Was it worth it, huh? Now grandma is gone, the woman who you wanted to use has been taken as well and I have no idea if she is still alive or not—was it all worth it, huh?” I demand, my voice rising with each word.

  It’s safe to deduce that I got my short temper from the man in front of me. The man my mother feared I would become. But it’s too late now, I’m just as vindictive, just as manipulating as he is.

  “Was it all worth it?” I demand again, almost getting into his face but I hold myself back.

  “You fell for her, didn’t you?”

  I look away as soon as I see that look of dawning understanding and get ready to hear that lecture of disappointment he always has ready. My hands ball into fists, I need to go. I can’t stay here another second without her and whether or not I have fallen for her, it doesn’t matter because now, now she will never want to be in my life. If anything, I’ll soon be as good as dead to her.

  Because I hurt her. I used her. I manipulated her and it doesn’t matter what I told her behind closed doors, now it’s all smoke.

  “Does it matter? Since all you wanted was revenge. . .”

  “Not any different from her, Charlotte, isn’t it?” He questions, y=testing her name on his tongue as if he doesn’t know. I glare at him.

  He lets out a long sigh when I remain silent, looking out to the landscape around us but not seeing it.

  “Tell me the truth.” I say demand quietly.

  “What exactly do you want to know?”

  “The fraud or Ponzi scheme or whatever, what was that?”

  “Very real.”

  “Who was behind it?” I demand because I know for a fact that he knows who it is. A sinking suspicion in me is screaming at me that it wasn’t Demetri. Not entirely.

  “Someone you thought you had gotten rid of.” He says in a cryptic manner.

  “The fuck does that mean? I don’t have time for this.” I say. “And anyhow, I will find out my damn self.”

  I make a move to leave, striding away from him with one thought on my mind.

  “I’m dying, Gideon.”

  I stop in my tracks but don’t turn back. My grandfather’s confession releasing into the air like some kind of litany.

  “I lost the two people that meant everything to me. First my brother. I mean, we practically raised each other. Our prostitute of a mother gone almost all the time and passed out when we came back home from school. . .” He says, and I turn to look at him, watching his face.

  It’s now that I see what he means. He really does look like some kind of vegetable that’s waiting to die. The youthfulness and vibrating strength I have always known him to possess since I was a boy now absent. In its place now is fatigue and a calm expectation.

  “Your grandmother was the other. Cleopatra. I never planned for her to be in the car with me but before I could do anything about it. . .I lost her.” He continues, turning now to lock gazes with me but I don’t even know what to say. I’m a complete mess and each second that passes with Chloe away from me, I’m being shredded into pieces.

  “If you are looking for sympathy, I have none for you.”

  “Understandable and I don’t need it.” He says, his voice hard now. Pride has always been with my grandfather and I don’t think that trait about him will ever go away.

  “What I’m saying is, all this time I have spent in that coma, I lost a lot of time and me waking up now, I realize that I made a lot of mistakes.”

  “No shit.” I mumble under my breath,

  “One of those mistakes and my biggest regret is that I held on to revenge so damn tightly, with both my legs and my hands—dived right into it and unknowingly, I dragged you into it.” He says quietly.

  I’m mute, feeling worthless and restless as the seconds tick by.

  “But I see it in your eyes that you are a better man than I or my bother ever was. I have always known that you are going to be the strength of this family and you have proven yourself.

  “I wasn’t doing it for you.”

  “No, but I’m proud nonetheless.” He says and we stare at each other.

  “Here is something for you that I think you will find to be resourceful.” He says as he lifts a shaky, weak hand to extend a piece of folded paper to me. I walk over to get it, saving him any unnecessary movements.

  “What’s this?” I question.

  “Codes to Lorenzo’s mansion. And the blueprints are now with Max.”

  “Where did you even get this?” I question but he only winks.

  “And what if I’m too late?” I question, my stomach dropping at the thought.

  “No, you aren’t and a little birdie told me that there is a show, I advise you to dress for the occasion.” He says. A door leading from within the private hospital open as out comes a nurse that I recognize as my grandfather’s.

  “It’s time for your medication now, Mr. Black.” She says as waits for us toward up our talk but what do I say to him.

  “Is she worth it?” He blurts out. I think he was just dying to ask that question.

  “She’s the one.” The words leave my mouth without a pause, no hesitation and it shocks me. She really is the one.

  “You do know it’s not going to be easy and he is going to destroy you, right?”

  “Not unless I demolish him first.”

  My grandfather gives me a weak smile then. “You are a mighty man after all.” He says quietly.

  “Just tell her the truth and get ready to grovel.” He says with a laugh indicating to his nurse to come.

  “It’s not funny.” I sternly say.

  “Oh, but it is!” He says and I watch as his nurse wheels him towards the open door.

  “And I told Dad that you are alive after all!” I shout after him and he tosses me the middle finger over his shoulder.

  I chuckle, walking quickly towards the car I reach in my pocket and dial Max’s number.

  “Samuel is the man—a shady one—but still the man.” He says as a greeting.

  “I assume you got the prints.”

  “Yes, and I have studied them. Also got an aerial view and it looks like there is a party, if you know what I mean.” His voice hardens then as we both think what that means in the underbelly world.

  “They won’t be part of that.” I grit out, getting into the car.

  “It won’t matter if we don’t get there on time. Got you a tux as well. Time to go all 007, man.” Max says. “Let’s go get our girls.”

  Chapter 24

  Gideon

  The large, monstrosity of a mansion looms over head like an intimidating habitat that lures people in with its splendor, majestic beauty and opulence. But, I’ve seen better in my life and I know for a fact that this place houses the most vicious, evil a
nd greedy people I have ever known of.

  “To think both of them are in there.” Max says with a whistle of disbelief, walking towards the front door like we own the place.

  While going through the best course of action, we decided that sneaking in will not work and as much as my grandfather’s skills and connections are versatile, what he doesn’t know is that the codes he gave me are actually changed every hour. I think back to the strategy plan we went through during the flight over.

  “I mean, what did you expect. That bastard of a son’s identity is swept through every eight hours, what more of the actual top dog and their place of residence?” Max had pointed out, pacing the length of the plane while frustratedly trying to fix his bowtie.

  “But what does one have to hide to go through all those lengths?” I muse over it.

  “I’m not sure about hiding but look at the blueprints of this place. The damn thing is expanded upon every two years, adding more rooms and whatever shit they need.”

  “All we need to do is to find exactly where Sam and Chloe might be.” Tom points out as we all study the floor plans, matching them to the intelligence we have.

  A total of sixteen men have flown in with us, all of them—apart from Max and I—are dressed in SWAT gear, ready for any and all types of action that has potential to erupt at any time. All of them are spread around the grounds, waiting to charge in on our signal.

  “So, we are just going to walk through the front door?” Max questions again, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. I’m nervous but at this point, I will try anything and everything just to get to her.

  “He said he will be waiting for us.” I say in a calm, low voice.

  “And you trust this dude?” I pause and actually think about it and then respond.

  “No. Not really, but we don’t actually have a choice. Time is running out and anything can happen.” My voice is quiet as we go up the stately stairs leading to the front door. It almost feels like this is some kind of presidential home and all the corruption, cunning nature of a snake and the charms of one, have created this mirage.

  “Fuck, it’s a whole lot of them.” Max points out as we look up at the front door which is manned by at least six guards, who are armed with assault riffles and maybe even grenades. They each have enough ammunition to take out a big city.

  “You think they are expecting us?” I question Max. The guy is skilled at reading people and he can read a situation well.

  “I don’t think so. I think they are like this on a sunny spring day.” Max informs as she observes the men that have set their watchful gazes on both of us now.

  “They don’t look like they dance in the rainbow either.” I say to which Max chuckles but I can tell he is tense and angry, just itching to find trouble.

  “Just let me do the talking, champ.” Max says.

  “Good evening, gentlemen. So sorry we are late for the party.” Max starts, looking at the men.

  “Are you seeing this?” I question Tom who is on the other end of the comms devices that we are all wearing. Tom is the man seeing everything while he is within a van parked behind the house, hidden by the forest trees. We found the used dirt road through the plans and the aerial view.

  “Yes. Tread carefully, they look suspicious of you.” Tom responds in my ear and I don’t pay attention to what Max and one of the guards are talking about until he nudges me.

  “Uh, the code man. They are saying we need a code to get in and I forgot the damn thing, haha!” Max starts laughing. Did I ever mention that Max can be a skilled actor if he ever needs to be one? I bet he would give be the face of Hollywood if he ever wanted to have a career in the art.

  “You see man, I’m drunk. I mean, I already started partying before getting here. . .and it’s crazy.” Max slaps my back as he starts laughing again, looking like he is high on something.

  The guards however, are not amused.

  “Sir, if you don’t have your code you will have to leave.” One of the guards says as he looks at Max, then his gaze slides to meet my passive one. Unlike Max, I don’t possess the finer abilities of manipulating my entire self, just to appear as one thing while I’m not.

  “We are here as guests of a friend. My friend here is really drunk as you can tell.” I step forward as I speak and Max hollers out a loud laugh.

  “Hey, did you see that tree! It’s got tits!” Then he doubles over, laughing really hard and the guards don’t know what to do now, looking at Max uncertainly.

  “And he needs to be laid. Fast.” I say as I help Max to stand up straight, feeling the coiled tension within him. He really is stretched tight and will snap the necks of these guys the longer we are apart from Chloe and Sam.

  “Is that so?”

  “Let them in. They are not intruders.” A voice says from the open front door and there stands a tall man who I recognize immediately. “They are Lorenzo’s guests and you are keeping them.”

  His voice has a bite of authority and I wonder what exactly he dos here and to think I never thought he would be anything other than Demetri’s goon speak volumes as to how well he can do his job.

  The guards make a way for us to pass through and Max shoots them a dramatic, exaggerated salute that one of them rolls his eyes at.

  “Goodnight, Barbie!” He says to the guard that rolled his eyes. I guess Max noticed that too.

  “This is your inside guy?” Max whispers as we pass through the open doorway and I nod.

  “Can’t say I saw this one coming either.” I respond, with a note of disbelief in my voice.

  “Gentlemen, the show is about to start. Please, this way.” The man says and turns hurriedly on his way and begins walking through the opulent mansion with gold statues and figures adorning the walls and such but I don’t pay all of that any mind.

  As soon as we have passed a number of doors, we come to a stop somewhere and the man directs us through a lone, unimportant looking door.

  “What’s this?” Max questions.

  “Look, we don’t have much time and things are about to explode here. I need to know if you came with back-up because you are definitely going to need it.” The man asks hurriedly, making the organ in my chest heave and start thundering. Dread goes down my spine and I feel the begins of the anger I have been holding back all these hours.

  “Yes, we do have some back-up.” Max responds.

  “Where are they?” He questions.

  “Getting ready for this shit storm.” I answer.

  “Being prepared for what?!” Max and I question at the same time, nerves standing on end, worry etched on our features.

  “For the centerpiece of the show.” He simply says then opens the other end of the door and walks out without explaining further. Max and I look at each other but we have no choice but to follow him.

  “What’s a centerpiece?” Max questions.

  “Whatever it is, It's trouble. I see where you are going, that’s where everyone is congregated.” Tom says in our ears as we move along.

  “How many guards do they have?” I demand.

  “More than enough.” The man answers with a glance over his shoulder. “Get ready, some of the people in there might know who you are.” He informs.

  “What?”

  “Well that’s just fucking fantastic. Just show up and be caught either way.” Max rants.

  “Actually, he is expecting you and knows that you are here.” The man says and by ‘he’ I know he doesn’t mean Caleb Lorenzo.

  “How does he know any of that?” I demand.

  “Doesn’t matter right now. Just go with it.” He says and with that, opens a set of doors and it’s there we are met by absolute silence as all the occupants in the room seem to have their attention transfixed on something. All of the scantily clad women, hanging on the greedy bastards are also looking at whatever has caught their gaze, an unnatural silence is over the room and it almost seems mythic in nature.

  “Fuck, what is this place?” Max quest
ions through his comms device to my ear.

  “What are they all looking at?” I question, trying to move around the man in front of us so I can see what’s going on, but he suddenly turns back and I hold myself before I can slam into his back.

  “I’m afraid, it has already begun. I will take you to them immediately.” He informs, looking directly at me. And as he turns back, that’s when I see it.

  Right at the center of the room, walks a vison to behold. Her chin is held up high, her back is straight and there is no weakness in her movements. Her body is dressed in some kind of dress that falls down to her bare feet. Bare feet?

  I watch as she passes through an open door and without thinking about it, without even stopping to do some kind of re-con or to study the room, I follow after her. I pass the man who let us in, the undercover FBI agent who posed as Demetris’ goon while also deeply embedded as a syndicate soldier.

  I pass him without sparring him a glance. I know I’m fast as fuck and he won’t catch up to me unless he breaks into a light jog but Max is right behind, seeming to think on the same wavelength as I am.

  The doors stand open and I catch the tail end of whatever Giovanni Lorenzo was saying—something about a feast—watching Sam and Chloe as they stand in front of him and his court. It seems he has a mind to make sport of whatever suffering techniques he has in store for not only Chloe, but for myself as well.

  “Ah, just in time.” Giovanni’s voice booms throughout the courtyard like room, his arms spread wide apart as if he is Jesus, calming the storm. Our gazes lock and my blood rushes violently beneath my skin. I feel the hot branding need to wreck havoc on this man. I’m not angry. I’m way past anger at this point. Now, all I just want to do is wipe his existence off the face of the earth. As he looks at me, I have no doubt he is aware of the thoughts running through my mind right now.

  “Mr. Black, so nice of you to be here with us tonight!”

  The contempt I feel for this man is enough to send me on a killing spree, until this over the top, definitely for show—room is painted red.

  Chloe’s head whips around so fast and I watch as her beautiful eyes widen, her perfect lips now open as if to let out a gasp. Our gazes collide after what seems like an eternity of starvation, an eternity of having a sense of numbness coating my insides and now our eyes connect. In her eyes I see a myriad of emotions that make my knees weaken but I will stand firm for her.